Hakone Estate and Gardens: Saratoga estate bridges past and present in lunar new year

SARATOGA -- As a half-dozen schoolchildren piled under three huge lion heads for a ceremonial dance to kick off a lunar new year celebration, proud parents broke out their iPhones and long-lens cameras to capture the colorful performance.

Then teenager Jennifer Liu sat down and plucked away at the zither -- a kind of horizontal harp -- to honor her ancestors by playing one of China's ancient instruments.

The past met the present Sunday at Saratoga's picturesque Hakone (ha-KOH-nee) Estate and Gardens, where about 300 people gathered for the garden's fifth annual Lunar New Year party to (belatedly) celebrate the Year of the Snake. There was tai chi dancing, face-painting and drumming. On display were silk children's hats from the Qing dynasty, snake kites and handmade crafts.

In an ultramodern setting, where everyone seemed to have the latest gadgets in tow, everyone paid homage to a deep, shared past -- including Liu, who chose to play the zither in large part because of her Chinese heritage.

"It keeps me connected to my culture," said Liu, 17. Born in Cupertino, she went to boarding school in China before returning here. She's been playing the zither for 10 years. "It helps me remember what it was like being in China."

Historic locale

That spirit is exactly what organizers are trying to instill in their youngest generation with events like these, said Connie Yung Yu, the first-ever Chinese-American board president for Hakone, a Japanese estate.

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"I believe you don't really know who you are and where you are going until you see your history," said Yu, whose parents took over the estate in the 1960s before selling it to the city. In 2000, a nonprofit took ownership of the estate just west of downtown Saratoga. "This is our valley. Chinese labor helped build it. This is part of our heritage."

It may not be the biggest Lunar New Year celebration in the Bay Area, but it was in perhaps the most historic locale: The 98-year-old Japanese garden estate has been honored as the oldest of its kind in the Western hemisphere.

Families explored the grounds' 18 acres and engaged in Chinese New Year traditions. Two friends from San Jose, 12-year-olds Bryan Tran and Emilio Carillo, danced under the lion heads after performing in the massive San Francisco Chinese New Year parade last weekend. They practice after school on Friday and enjoy learning about their heritage -- and, of course, getting to run around looking like lions.

"It's a little hot (under the head) but still cool," Bryan said.

Added Emilio: "It's a fun experience."

Bryan's mother, Jacqueline Tran, was proud but also glad that her son was able to "learn about his roots."

Many cultures

Hakone CEO Lon Saavedra says it may seem odd to have a Chinese festival at a Japanese estate, but the grounds has grown to offer celebrations and events of all cultures. They host annual Japanese, Chinese, Persian Zoroastrian and Indian Diwali festivals, weddings, bar mitzvahs, classes, seminars and even corporate events.

"It's a bridge between Asia and the Americas," Saavedra said. The lunar new year event, for instance, "is equally for non-Chinese to learn about" the Chinese culture.

Sunday's four-hour festival brought out families of all cultures to the secluded hills, where the Hakone Estate shows off a 40,000-gallon koi pond with 50-year-old fish, decorative tortoise shell﻿ bamboo and the Moonviewing House where scenes from the 2005 film "Memoirs of A Geisha" were filmed.